timelines of major facts about the family: employment history, residences, births, deaths, marriages

personal histories provided by interviews, other relatives, family traditions, anecdotes and historical documents

mementos to be shared with future generations, such as war medals and military dog tags, hospital birth bracelets and locks of hair (See "Preserving Memories" in the February 2002 Family Tree Magazine for ways to display memorabilia in an album.)

significant historical, social and political events that affected the lives of the family you're documenting